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Waite House gets a new director
By Gary Blair
Reuben LaBatte Jr. is now the new
Director ofthe Waite House, a community center located at 2529-13th
Ave., So., Minneapolis. The center is
one of six community facilities operated by the Pillsbury Neighborhood
Services, Inc. He has worked at the
Waite House for seven years and has
been in his new position since May 1,
1993.
Mr. LaBatte is a member of the
Sisston-Whapeton Sioux Tribe and is
originally from Sisseton. South Dakota. He says 80 percent ofthe clients
served by the Waite House are Native
Americans and that proportion continues to grow. According to Mr.
LaBatte, he plans to change the way
the center's programs are presently
administered. He says he wants to get
awky from the' 'band-aid'' approach
to serving clients and will be announcing the new changes very soon.
At present the Waite House offers
eight different programs, seven to
benefit the Native American community. The first program is called,
CO.P.E.(CreatingOptions for People
in their Environment). Itisaprogram
designed to deal with high stress levels often associated with households
on fixed or low-incomes trying to
cope the pressures of providing for
their families.
The second program is the Youth
Program. It's geared to working with
pre-teen and teenager and it helps in
their development of interpersonal
skills.
The Advocacy and Intervention Program assists people in crisis situations
with the goal of reducing hunger and
homelessness in the Phillips Neiglv-
borhood.
The Start-up Family Loan Program,
is for youth on the list of Waite House
services. It offers small loans to assist
low-income parents in obtaining and
maintaining meaningful employment
and/or in dealing with critical situations that may affect their economic
and family stability.
The NutitionProgram offers a daily
hot meal Monday thru Friday at the
center.
The Outdoor Explorer Program is for
people of all ages. It provides the
opportunity to learn about the environ
ment through camping experiences, canoeing, hiking, etc.
The Asian Pacific Advocacy Program
is anotherprogramoffered by the center
and was implemented to assist in the
resettling of Asians in Minnesota.
The seventh program provided by the
Waite House is the B.I.MS. program
(Body, Image, Mind and Spirit) is a
holistic approach to human sexuality.
Mr. LaBatte says he's going to be
hiring more staff at the center and he
plans to hire from the neighorhood.
He says his new plans for the center's
programs will focus on empowering
people - a word that he says often
draws concern from funders. Mr.
LaBatte says he wants to work with
everyone in the community. He
commented, "We've had weddings,
wakes for families and birthday parties at the Waite House."
The Waite House will hold its Indian Month Pow Wow and Feast on
May 14, 1993, from 1-8 P.M. and
everyone is invited. In addition, anyone interested in serving on the Board
of Directors for Pillsbury Neighborhood services should contact Mr.
LaBatte.
Loan Reports from Indian Business Program/page 1
Tribal Cigarette, Liquor, Petroleum Rebates FY 91-92/page 4
Ada Deer nominated by President Clinton/page 1
New Indian Aide starts work for Senator Wellstone/page 1
Mpls Housing Corp seeks funds from Bush Foundation/page 1
Native Americans seek niche in Olympics/page 3
The Largest Weekly Native Newspaper In North America
Brown appointed Leech Lake Gaming Director
Leech Lake Tribal Council
Chairman Alfred "Tig" Pemberton
announces the appointment of Charles
Brown as Director of the Leech Lake
Gaming Division.
The Gaming Division is an
administrative branch of Tribal
Council operations which manages
Palace Bingo & Casino at Cass Lake,
and Northern Lights Casino, located
at Leech Lake just south of Walker.
The two casinos employ more than
700 people.
Brown, 48, will officially assume
his new position May 17. He has
worked within the Gaming Division
as its Human Resource Training
Coordinator since October of 1992.
"As a relatively new industry, Indian
gaming is in an incredibly creative
and fast-paced development phase
right now and I'm excited about having
the opportunity to be a part of fhat,"
said Brown. "I've been impressed with
the high caliber of professionalism
which I've seen while working on
projects at our two Leech Lake casinos
and am looking forward to working
with the managers and staff who have
made the businesses what they are
today."
In announcing the appointment,
Chairman Pemberton said, "Charlie
has demonstrated keen administrative
abilities during the months he's been
employed with Gaming, and the Tribal
Council is very confident that he's
well equipped to handle this extremely
challenging position."
As human resources training
coordinator, Brown has established a
program of ongoing trainingfor casino
management and staff and has also
worked extensively on development
Ofwrittenpolicyatall levels of gaming
management. He is an enrolled
member ofthe Leech Lake Band and
holds a Bachelor of Science degree
from Bemidji State. Brown has 26
years of experience as a teacher and
coach.
Brown fills a post vacated in
Decemberbytheresignationofformer
Director John McCarthy. Leech Lake
Gaming Controller George Wells has
served as acting director during the
interim.
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
lume 3 issue 1 May 14, 1993
Copyright. The Native American Press, 1993
WWBC approves Golden Nickel Casino's
gaming license
By Gene Buckanaga
After waiting five months and providing over $2 million in loans to the
Wisconsin Winnebago Business Committee (WWBC) Golden Nickel
Casinos, Inc., was awarded a gaming
license on May 7th by the WWBC.
Golden Nickel President Thomas
Schrade was elated when the motion
was passed. Golden Nickel, a Minneapolis based firm, was created by
Schrade along with investors and venture capitalists Sheldon Fleck and
Robert Sabes. Fleck and Sabes offer
venture capital, training and management services to Indian tribes in their
effort to expand gaming operations.
On February 20,1992, the WWBC
acheived a quorum after two years of
tribal unrest. At this meeting Golden
Nickel was one of four new casino
gambling vendors that were offered
contracts. Golden Nickel had agreed
to provide $17 million to the WWBC
to build a state ofthe art 81,000 square
foot casino in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Although the WWBC achieved its
first quorum in over two years, they
found themselves in deep financial
trouble.The financial problems emanated from the internal tribal conflicts
during the past two years. The tribe
owed the IRS for back taxes and revenue from the gaming operations were
not enough to cover tribal operating
expenses.
The IRS had threathened tne
Winnebagos with foreclose on the gaming operations and other tribal
enterprises. Golden Nickel provided
the WWBC with a loan to abate the
IRS'S action and made plans for payment ofthe outstanding taxes.
When the WWBC was unable to
make payroll, again Golden Nickel
came to the rescue and offer another
loan. In all, since February of 1992,
Schrade stated "Golden Nickel has
provided over $2 million in loans to
the WWBC to ensure the integrity of
the tribe was maintained and services
to the tribal members would continue
uninterrupted.
On October 7, 1992, the WWBC
and Golden Nickel formally signed
the gaming compact. The seventy-
page compact agreement outlined the
duties and responsibilities of each
party. In November 1992 ground
breaking ceremonies were held to kick
off the construction of the $ 17 million
Ho Chunk Golden Nickel Casino.
Pursuant to the 1988 Indian Gam-
ing Regulatory Act, a license is required
of any entity that engages in class II or
III activity from the tribal governing
body.. Golden Nickel had submitted
their application to the WWBC in
December of 1992. It was a five
month wait that Golden Nickel had to
endure. When Schrade was questioned on the long delay for approval
ofthe license he stated' 'The WWBC
has an extensive'process in their application, it just takes time."
Schrade continued, "We [Golden
Nickel TM partners Sheldon Fleck
and Robert Sabes] have already had
our background checked by the Department of Justice, the BIA and the
State of Wisconsin and cleared by
them."
It would seem the WWBC would
approve the license more quickly than
it did, as the new state ofthe art casino
is almost completed. The expected
grand opening date has been shifted
from the May 31, Memorial Day
weekend, to sometime in mid July.
Upon opening the new casino,
Schrade indicated it would outshine
the casino of' 'Mystic Lake'' in Prior
Lake, Minn. Golden Nickel and the
Winnebago people are anxiously waiting for the completion of their new
state ofthe art casino.
The new casino shall have over 1200
slots, 40 blackjack tables and employ
over 850 people in the area. Future
plans are to build a hotel and convention center adjacent to the present
complex to accommodate the anticipated influx of tourists from the upper
midwest region.
Ms. Ada
Deer is
President
William
Clinton's
selected
candidate
for the
Position of
Assistant
Secretary of
the Interior
Press File Photo
President Clinton recommends Ada Deer as
Assistant Secretary of the Interior
By Mel Rasmussen
Ms. Ada Deer of Wisconsin and a
Menominee Indian has recently been
nominated for one ofthe many unfilled
positions within the Clinton
Administration. This week she was
recommended as the Assistant
Secretary of the Interior. Final
confirmation of her appointment has
not been made yet by Congress.
Ms. Deer is currently a professor at
the University of Wisconsin, Madison
in the American Indian Studies and
Social Work department. She has been
considered for several different
positions within the Clinton
Administration. These have included
possible positions at Health and
Human Services, Housing and Urban
Development and the Department of
Interior.
Senator Paul Wellstone of
Minnesota stated in a press release
concerning Ms. Deer the following,
"I am extremely pleased that Ada
Deer is being recommended as
Assistant Secretary of the
Interior...Ada has a rich background
in education, social work and politics.
This experience makes her uniquely
qualified to be Assistant
Secretary... Ada is a strong leader with
tremendous credibility in the Native
American community. She is deeply
committed to social and economic
justice. As a result, she will do much
to assure the integrity and credibility
of her office at the Department of
Interior."
Ms. Deer has had an active political
life and was instrumental in the
recognition of the Menominee tribe
after they faced the disastrous policies
of termination in the early 1950's.
Most recently, Ms. Deer ran for
Congress in Wisconsin last fall and
was not elected to office. However she
stated in a interview concerning this
point, she said, "I ran for Congress
because I wanted to be a part of the
Clinton Administration in a important
policy position that would make a
difference;"
In a interview last fall, Ms. Deer was
asked what her first actions would be if
she were selected as the Director ofthe
Bureau oflndian Affairs. Her statements
in that article continue to reflect her
current appointment status. She stated,
"I knowthat there has been thisongoing
study concerning the Bureau. We need
to review it and to build a net. Also Mr.
Clinton, the President needs to issue a
presidential statement affirming
government to government relationship
holding the trust agreements up. This is
the type of leadership that I would look
for from the President I would consult
with Babbitt and tribal leaders and try to
forge a partnership with the tribes to
help tribes advance according to then-
decision....! think everyone should
update their thinking and really work to
improve their tribal communities or
their communities in the urban area and
worktogetherto make our country what
it should be for everybody."
Diana Seegar, new Wellstone Indian Aide discusses
Red Lake federal funding for summer youths
Minneapolis American Housing Corporation
seeks $675,000 grant from Bush Foundation
By Mel Rasmussen
Last week Ms. Diana Seegar, the
newest legislative aide to work on
Indian Affairs for Senator Paul
Wellstone, discussed the upcoming
federal funding for the Red Lake
Chippewa Tribe. In an interview, she
discussed the announcement that
President Clinton made that the Red
Lake Band of Chippewa Indians was
being awarded $325,000. The award
would allow the band to participate in
the Summer of Service program.
According to Seegar, the Summer
of Service program is designed to
meet the critical needs of at-risk
children while building future
National Service leaders. Young
people from Red Lake will work
closely over the summer with
disadvantaged and at-risk youth in
the areas of education, health care,
and the environment.
She stated she was glad to see good
things starting to come to the
Minnesota Native American
population. This new program is one
of many that is being worked on for
the Minnesota Native American
community. In her new role as the
Indian Affairs aide and advocate for
the Senator she thought that her input
and work with the community will
help create a better atmosphere of
understanding that the Senator could
work with on Indian Issues.
Seegar went on to state that she is
excited to be able to work on the
issues for Native Americans here in
the state. She felt that it was important
that this desk be located in the
Senator's St. Paul office. In doing so,
it will keep the Senator's staff more
closely in touch with the pulse ofthe
Indian community.
Seegar admitted that her first week
on the job has been very hectic and is
continuing with becoming more
completely informed with her duties
and the issues that are coming to
light. She stated that there is an
overwhelming amount of information
and needs that have to processed and
addressed. Seegar felt that she is only
temporarily being inundated with this
information and will shortly have the
necessary information and problems
brought under control.
The PRESS welcomes the addition
of this staff person to the Wellstone
ranks. It is a very important step
forward for the Indian community to
have one of their own doing the work
for their peers here in Minnesota. The
PRESS hopes that some of our other
legislators on the state level and the
federal level will take note of this
progressive move and follow suit.
By Gary Blair
The American Indian Housing
Corporation, (AIHC) headed by Mr.
Gordon Thayer and Mr. Robert Albee,
has made its move to obtain a grant
fromTheBushFoundation. Inacopyof
a proposal received this week by the
PRESS that's dated January 4, 1993,
with the cover letter signed by AIHCs
President, Mr. Thayer, the group
requested $675,000 over three years
from the foundation. The first year
(1993) they requested $250,000, the
second year (1994) they asked for
$225,000 andthefollowingyear(1995)
$200,000. AIHCs budget for the first
four years as shown in the proposal
totals $1,638,970.
An April 9, 1993, PRESS article
entitled "IndianHousing Corporation's
Board issues improper payments to
members" hasyettobe explained to the
Minneapolis Indian community. In the
article, the first paragraph contained
the following statements.
According to documents received by
The PRESS, certain actions of the
American Indian Housing Corporation
(AIHC) are in direct violations of the
organization's bylaws. In a letter of
resignation dated March 13, 1993,
former AIHC board member, Diana
Buckanaga, called the breach a"rip
off" of American Indian people.
However, Attorney Joshua Kanassatega,
also an AIHC board member, did
response to Ms. Buckanaga's concerns
that she says has gone unaddressed by
other AIHC board members.
Attorney Kanassatega sent a
letter to Ms. Buckanaga and copies
of that correspondence were sent
to the following AIHCs board
members Gordon Thayer, Donna
Fairbanks, Robert Albee, and
Rudy Pacheco. Here is some of
what he wrote: "In a telephone
conservation with me on January
27, 1993, you asked me to advise
the Corporation as to the validity
of providing compensation for
services and related expenses to
members ofthe Board of Directors.
I have reviewed the Corporation's
bylaws (a copy of which is
enclosed herewith) and find that
Article III, Section 2.6, directly
addresses this issue."
"Section 2.6, provides,
Compensation. "The board shall
authorize no compensation for director
services, but may authorize a reasonable
allowance for actual expenses incurred
by a director at the written direction of
the board".
" It is my opinion that Board members
may not receive compensation for
director services, including consulting
services. A per diem payment to a
Housing/See Page 8
i

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Waite House gets a new director
By Gary Blair
Reuben LaBatte Jr. is now the new
Director ofthe Waite House, a community center located at 2529-13th
Ave., So., Minneapolis. The center is
one of six community facilities operated by the Pillsbury Neighborhood
Services, Inc. He has worked at the
Waite House for seven years and has
been in his new position since May 1,
1993.
Mr. LaBatte is a member of the
Sisston-Whapeton Sioux Tribe and is
originally from Sisseton. South Dakota. He says 80 percent ofthe clients
served by the Waite House are Native
Americans and that proportion continues to grow. According to Mr.
LaBatte, he plans to change the way
the center's programs are presently
administered. He says he wants to get
awky from the' 'band-aid'' approach
to serving clients and will be announcing the new changes very soon.
At present the Waite House offers
eight different programs, seven to
benefit the Native American community. The first program is called,
CO.P.E.(CreatingOptions for People
in their Environment). Itisaprogram
designed to deal with high stress levels often associated with households
on fixed or low-incomes trying to
cope the pressures of providing for
their families.
The second program is the Youth
Program. It's geared to working with
pre-teen and teenager and it helps in
their development of interpersonal
skills.
The Advocacy and Intervention Program assists people in crisis situations
with the goal of reducing hunger and
homelessness in the Phillips Neiglv-
borhood.
The Start-up Family Loan Program,
is for youth on the list of Waite House
services. It offers small loans to assist
low-income parents in obtaining and
maintaining meaningful employment
and/or in dealing with critical situations that may affect their economic
and family stability.
The NutitionProgram offers a daily
hot meal Monday thru Friday at the
center.
The Outdoor Explorer Program is for
people of all ages. It provides the
opportunity to learn about the environ
ment through camping experiences, canoeing, hiking, etc.
The Asian Pacific Advocacy Program
is anotherprogramoffered by the center
and was implemented to assist in the
resettling of Asians in Minnesota.
The seventh program provided by the
Waite House is the B.I.MS. program
(Body, Image, Mind and Spirit) is a
holistic approach to human sexuality.
Mr. LaBatte says he's going to be
hiring more staff at the center and he
plans to hire from the neighorhood.
He says his new plans for the center's
programs will focus on empowering
people - a word that he says often
draws concern from funders. Mr.
LaBatte says he wants to work with
everyone in the community. He
commented, "We've had weddings,
wakes for families and birthday parties at the Waite House."
The Waite House will hold its Indian Month Pow Wow and Feast on
May 14, 1993, from 1-8 P.M. and
everyone is invited. In addition, anyone interested in serving on the Board
of Directors for Pillsbury Neighborhood services should contact Mr.
LaBatte.
Loan Reports from Indian Business Program/page 1
Tribal Cigarette, Liquor, Petroleum Rebates FY 91-92/page 4
Ada Deer nominated by President Clinton/page 1
New Indian Aide starts work for Senator Wellstone/page 1
Mpls Housing Corp seeks funds from Bush Foundation/page 1
Native Americans seek niche in Olympics/page 3
The Largest Weekly Native Newspaper In North America
Brown appointed Leech Lake Gaming Director
Leech Lake Tribal Council
Chairman Alfred "Tig" Pemberton
announces the appointment of Charles
Brown as Director of the Leech Lake
Gaming Division.
The Gaming Division is an
administrative branch of Tribal
Council operations which manages
Palace Bingo & Casino at Cass Lake,
and Northern Lights Casino, located
at Leech Lake just south of Walker.
The two casinos employ more than
700 people.
Brown, 48, will officially assume
his new position May 17. He has
worked within the Gaming Division
as its Human Resource Training
Coordinator since October of 1992.
"As a relatively new industry, Indian
gaming is in an incredibly creative
and fast-paced development phase
right now and I'm excited about having
the opportunity to be a part of fhat,"
said Brown. "I've been impressed with
the high caliber of professionalism
which I've seen while working on
projects at our two Leech Lake casinos
and am looking forward to working
with the managers and staff who have
made the businesses what they are
today."
In announcing the appointment,
Chairman Pemberton said, "Charlie
has demonstrated keen administrative
abilities during the months he's been
employed with Gaming, and the Tribal
Council is very confident that he's
well equipped to handle this extremely
challenging position."
As human resources training
coordinator, Brown has established a
program of ongoing trainingfor casino
management and staff and has also
worked extensively on development
Ofwrittenpolicyatall levels of gaming
management. He is an enrolled
member ofthe Leech Lake Band and
holds a Bachelor of Science degree
from Bemidji State. Brown has 26
years of experience as a teacher and
coach.
Brown fills a post vacated in
Decemberbytheresignationofformer
Director John McCarthy. Leech Lake
Gaming Controller George Wells has
served as acting director during the
interim.
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
lume 3 issue 1 May 14, 1993
Copyright. The Native American Press, 1993
WWBC approves Golden Nickel Casino's
gaming license
By Gene Buckanaga
After waiting five months and providing over $2 million in loans to the
Wisconsin Winnebago Business Committee (WWBC) Golden Nickel
Casinos, Inc., was awarded a gaming
license on May 7th by the WWBC.
Golden Nickel President Thomas
Schrade was elated when the motion
was passed. Golden Nickel, a Minneapolis based firm, was created by
Schrade along with investors and venture capitalists Sheldon Fleck and
Robert Sabes. Fleck and Sabes offer
venture capital, training and management services to Indian tribes in their
effort to expand gaming operations.
On February 20,1992, the WWBC
acheived a quorum after two years of
tribal unrest. At this meeting Golden
Nickel was one of four new casino
gambling vendors that were offered
contracts. Golden Nickel had agreed
to provide $17 million to the WWBC
to build a state ofthe art 81,000 square
foot casino in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Although the WWBC achieved its
first quorum in over two years, they
found themselves in deep financial
trouble.The financial problems emanated from the internal tribal conflicts
during the past two years. The tribe
owed the IRS for back taxes and revenue from the gaming operations were
not enough to cover tribal operating
expenses.
The IRS had threathened tne
Winnebagos with foreclose on the gaming operations and other tribal
enterprises. Golden Nickel provided
the WWBC with a loan to abate the
IRS'S action and made plans for payment ofthe outstanding taxes.
When the WWBC was unable to
make payroll, again Golden Nickel
came to the rescue and offer another
loan. In all, since February of 1992,
Schrade stated "Golden Nickel has
provided over $2 million in loans to
the WWBC to ensure the integrity of
the tribe was maintained and services
to the tribal members would continue
uninterrupted.
On October 7, 1992, the WWBC
and Golden Nickel formally signed
the gaming compact. The seventy-
page compact agreement outlined the
duties and responsibilities of each
party. In November 1992 ground
breaking ceremonies were held to kick
off the construction of the $ 17 million
Ho Chunk Golden Nickel Casino.
Pursuant to the 1988 Indian Gam-
ing Regulatory Act, a license is required
of any entity that engages in class II or
III activity from the tribal governing
body.. Golden Nickel had submitted
their application to the WWBC in
December of 1992. It was a five
month wait that Golden Nickel had to
endure. When Schrade was questioned on the long delay for approval
ofthe license he stated' 'The WWBC
has an extensive'process in their application, it just takes time."
Schrade continued, "We [Golden
Nickel TM partners Sheldon Fleck
and Robert Sabes] have already had
our background checked by the Department of Justice, the BIA and the
State of Wisconsin and cleared by
them."
It would seem the WWBC would
approve the license more quickly than
it did, as the new state ofthe art casino
is almost completed. The expected
grand opening date has been shifted
from the May 31, Memorial Day
weekend, to sometime in mid July.
Upon opening the new casino,
Schrade indicated it would outshine
the casino of' 'Mystic Lake'' in Prior
Lake, Minn. Golden Nickel and the
Winnebago people are anxiously waiting for the completion of their new
state ofthe art casino.
The new casino shall have over 1200
slots, 40 blackjack tables and employ
over 850 people in the area. Future
plans are to build a hotel and convention center adjacent to the present
complex to accommodate the anticipated influx of tourists from the upper
midwest region.
Ms. Ada
Deer is
President
William
Clinton's
selected
candidate
for the
Position of
Assistant
Secretary of
the Interior
Press File Photo
President Clinton recommends Ada Deer as
Assistant Secretary of the Interior
By Mel Rasmussen
Ms. Ada Deer of Wisconsin and a
Menominee Indian has recently been
nominated for one ofthe many unfilled
positions within the Clinton
Administration. This week she was
recommended as the Assistant
Secretary of the Interior. Final
confirmation of her appointment has
not been made yet by Congress.
Ms. Deer is currently a professor at
the University of Wisconsin, Madison
in the American Indian Studies and
Social Work department. She has been
considered for several different
positions within the Clinton
Administration. These have included
possible positions at Health and
Human Services, Housing and Urban
Development and the Department of
Interior.
Senator Paul Wellstone of
Minnesota stated in a press release
concerning Ms. Deer the following,
"I am extremely pleased that Ada
Deer is being recommended as
Assistant Secretary of the
Interior...Ada has a rich background
in education, social work and politics.
This experience makes her uniquely
qualified to be Assistant
Secretary... Ada is a strong leader with
tremendous credibility in the Native
American community. She is deeply
committed to social and economic
justice. As a result, she will do much
to assure the integrity and credibility
of her office at the Department of
Interior."
Ms. Deer has had an active political
life and was instrumental in the
recognition of the Menominee tribe
after they faced the disastrous policies
of termination in the early 1950's.
Most recently, Ms. Deer ran for
Congress in Wisconsin last fall and
was not elected to office. However she
stated in a interview concerning this
point, she said, "I ran for Congress
because I wanted to be a part of the
Clinton Administration in a important
policy position that would make a
difference;"
In a interview last fall, Ms. Deer was
asked what her first actions would be if
she were selected as the Director ofthe
Bureau oflndian Affairs. Her statements
in that article continue to reflect her
current appointment status. She stated,
"I knowthat there has been thisongoing
study concerning the Bureau. We need
to review it and to build a net. Also Mr.
Clinton, the President needs to issue a
presidential statement affirming
government to government relationship
holding the trust agreements up. This is
the type of leadership that I would look
for from the President I would consult
with Babbitt and tribal leaders and try to
forge a partnership with the tribes to
help tribes advance according to then-
decision....! think everyone should
update their thinking and really work to
improve their tribal communities or
their communities in the urban area and
worktogetherto make our country what
it should be for everybody."
Diana Seegar, new Wellstone Indian Aide discusses
Red Lake federal funding for summer youths
Minneapolis American Housing Corporation
seeks $675,000 grant from Bush Foundation
By Mel Rasmussen
Last week Ms. Diana Seegar, the
newest legislative aide to work on
Indian Affairs for Senator Paul
Wellstone, discussed the upcoming
federal funding for the Red Lake
Chippewa Tribe. In an interview, she
discussed the announcement that
President Clinton made that the Red
Lake Band of Chippewa Indians was
being awarded $325,000. The award
would allow the band to participate in
the Summer of Service program.
According to Seegar, the Summer
of Service program is designed to
meet the critical needs of at-risk
children while building future
National Service leaders. Young
people from Red Lake will work
closely over the summer with
disadvantaged and at-risk youth in
the areas of education, health care,
and the environment.
She stated she was glad to see good
things starting to come to the
Minnesota Native American
population. This new program is one
of many that is being worked on for
the Minnesota Native American
community. In her new role as the
Indian Affairs aide and advocate for
the Senator she thought that her input
and work with the community will
help create a better atmosphere of
understanding that the Senator could
work with on Indian Issues.
Seegar went on to state that she is
excited to be able to work on the
issues for Native Americans here in
the state. She felt that it was important
that this desk be located in the
Senator's St. Paul office. In doing so,
it will keep the Senator's staff more
closely in touch with the pulse ofthe
Indian community.
Seegar admitted that her first week
on the job has been very hectic and is
continuing with becoming more
completely informed with her duties
and the issues that are coming to
light. She stated that there is an
overwhelming amount of information
and needs that have to processed and
addressed. Seegar felt that she is only
temporarily being inundated with this
information and will shortly have the
necessary information and problems
brought under control.
The PRESS welcomes the addition
of this staff person to the Wellstone
ranks. It is a very important step
forward for the Indian community to
have one of their own doing the work
for their peers here in Minnesota. The
PRESS hopes that some of our other
legislators on the state level and the
federal level will take note of this
progressive move and follow suit.
By Gary Blair
The American Indian Housing
Corporation, (AIHC) headed by Mr.
Gordon Thayer and Mr. Robert Albee,
has made its move to obtain a grant
fromTheBushFoundation. Inacopyof
a proposal received this week by the
PRESS that's dated January 4, 1993,
with the cover letter signed by AIHCs
President, Mr. Thayer, the group
requested $675,000 over three years
from the foundation. The first year
(1993) they requested $250,000, the
second year (1994) they asked for
$225,000 andthefollowingyear(1995)
$200,000. AIHCs budget for the first
four years as shown in the proposal
totals $1,638,970.
An April 9, 1993, PRESS article
entitled "IndianHousing Corporation's
Board issues improper payments to
members" hasyettobe explained to the
Minneapolis Indian community. In the
article, the first paragraph contained
the following statements.
According to documents received by
The PRESS, certain actions of the
American Indian Housing Corporation
(AIHC) are in direct violations of the
organization's bylaws. In a letter of
resignation dated March 13, 1993,
former AIHC board member, Diana
Buckanaga, called the breach a"rip
off" of American Indian people.
However, Attorney Joshua Kanassatega,
also an AIHC board member, did
response to Ms. Buckanaga's concerns
that she says has gone unaddressed by
other AIHC board members.
Attorney Kanassatega sent a
letter to Ms. Buckanaga and copies
of that correspondence were sent
to the following AIHCs board
members Gordon Thayer, Donna
Fairbanks, Robert Albee, and
Rudy Pacheco. Here is some of
what he wrote: "In a telephone
conservation with me on January
27, 1993, you asked me to advise
the Corporation as to the validity
of providing compensation for
services and related expenses to
members ofthe Board of Directors.
I have reviewed the Corporation's
bylaws (a copy of which is
enclosed herewith) and find that
Article III, Section 2.6, directly
addresses this issue."
"Section 2.6, provides,
Compensation. "The board shall
authorize no compensation for director
services, but may authorize a reasonable
allowance for actual expenses incurred
by a director at the written direction of
the board".
" It is my opinion that Board members
may not receive compensation for
director services, including consulting
services. A per diem payment to a
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